{ADbitious} Is a Fashionably Pink Adolf Hitler AD Offensive?

Sicilian fashion store, New Form, has come under fire for it’s Spring 2010 advertising campaign that uses a altered image of Adolf Hilter.

18-foot high posters scattered across the city of Palermo show the Fuhrer in a pink fluorescent military ensemble. The armband on the altered likeness of Hitler has a large red heart on the side instead of a swastika.

The target audience for the campaign are 20-somethings. The campaign has not gone unnoticed by local city officials and has garnered international attention. It was created by the local advertising agency called Zerocento (‘zero-one-hundred.’)

Although taking a lot of heat for the campaign, Zerocento insists that the campaign actually ridicules Hitler and that the critics of the agency and the campaign are overreacting.

The lead account manger, Daniele Manno, said the campaign “invites young people to create their own style and not to be influenced by their peers.”

But personally, I think it is rather odd and exceptionally bizarre to target Gen-Y (a generation known for being ‘liberal’ and forwarding thinking and community involved) with images of one of the world’s great mass murderers. I just cannot see the target audience thinking this is ‘cool.’

Maybe things are different in Sicily?

New Form stocks a range of well-known designers in its stores, including, Miss Sixty, Calvin Klien and Diesel — none of which have reportedly commented.

Though, after Diesel’s recent “Be Stupid” campaign, I highly doubt they are in a position to criticize and be taken seriously.

Regardless of the uproar, Zerocento plans on replacing the adverts shortly anyway, replacing them with a new image of Chinese Communist Leader Mao Tse Tung.

So what are your thoughts?

Is the pink Hitler a positive statement? Stupid? Or offensive?

Do you think that it rightly portrays the message of being a stylistic individual and not following ‘the crowd?’

On that note, I’m just saying, if these folks wereinspiredby Mel Brooks and The Producers, thinking they would achieve his type of satire,umm, they fell short:

Sasha Muradali runs the â€˜Little Pink Bookâ€™ . She holds a B.S. in Public Relations from the University of Florida with a minor in Dance (â€™07) and an M.A. in International Administration from the University of Miami (â€™08). She loves Twitter and all things social media, so you should find her@SashaHalimaor get a copy of the â€˜Little Pink Bookâ€™ delivered to your Kindle.

Comments

First, it was thoughtless to target this towards Gen-Y, a group (like you said) that is liberal, generally well educated and perhaps the most universally social generation.

More importantly, I don't think it's ever appropriate to turn Hitler or what he did in to some florescent pink, heart-wearing joke.

Plus, even if Gen-Yers DO understand what the agency was trying to do, though they don't agree with it because they are aware of Hitler and what he did, imagine how hard it will be to explain to a child just how horrific Hitler was if they're first image of him is in a pink suit with a heart on it.

It'd be like trying to tell them Strawberry Shortcake is Satan: they might not believe it or understand the full extent of what he did.

Anything to further humiliate the Fuhrer is OK in my book. It is obviously a joke and should be taken as such. Love it how they replaced the swastika with a heart. It's just art and should not be taken seriously and should not have to be explained. It is what it is.

First, it was thoughtless to target this towards Gen-Y, a group (like you said) that is liberal, generally well educated and perhaps the most universally social generation.

More importantly, I don't think it's ever appropriate to turn Hitler or what he did in to some florescent pink, heart-wearing joke.

Plus, even if Gen-Yers DO understand what the agency was trying to do, though they don't agree with it because they are aware of Hitler and what he did, imagine how hard it will be to explain to a child just how horrific Hitler was if they're first image of him is in a pink suit with a heart on it.

It'd be like trying to tell them Strawberry Shortcake is Satan: they might not believe it or understand the full extent of what he did.

Anything to further humiliate the Fuhrer is OK in my book. It is obviously a joke and should be taken as such. Love it how they replaced the swastika with a heart. It's just art and should not be taken seriously and should not have to be explained. It is what it is.